WOW! OK, this is a site promoting CW operation so it is biased, but not to that extent. This represents a genuine outpouring of hard feelings against what is happening to CW lately. I'm delighted to see that 98 percent of voters will either not change their CW habits or operate even more CW now. Take that ARRL and FCC!

#89 - To which of the following CW/QRP clubs do you belong?
Date: 12/15/06-1/14/07 --- Votes: 313

Since my site deals with QRP/CW, you would expect many of my visitors to belong to some QRP or CW club, and the results show that. However I find it interesting to see which ones were the most popular. I thought #1 would be FISTS and I was right. #2 I figured would be QRP ARCI, however our own NAQCC beat them out. That's rewarding. There was some discussion about why I included QRP-L in the list. I just wanted to see how many hams are willing to wade through the tons of postings on this mainly Internet club. Although it does provide some good info, a lot of time can be wasted there that could be spent operating CW on the ham bands. So I'm glad it didn't get more votes than it did.

#88 - How many hours a week do you use CW?
Date: 11/15/06-12/14/06 --- Voters: 144

Someone asked me why so many 'no code' votes since my site deals with CW. The answer I guess is one of two things. Either the 'no code' hams use things on the site not related strictly to CW like the QSL routes info or they are simply so adamantly anti-CW they just have to make their feelings known everywhere they can. I sincerely hope it is the first, since CW hams have nothing against those who use other modes, and we hope the reverse is true, although I know for a fact it isn't.

#87 - Check all items that apply to the new NAQCC WAS Bear Hunt:
Date: 10/15/06-11/14/06 --- Votes: 161

Item Nr %
I am a NAQCC member 34 21
I am not a NAQCC member 15 9
I will use it to try to get the QRP states I need. 22 14
It will help me with my NAQCC Worked Members Award 17 11
I will be (am) a Bear Hunter (Everyone eligible) 16 10
It will help me with other awards I'm working for 15 9
It will help me with my NAQCC 2X QRP Award 12 7
I will go for the Bear Hunter Award 11 7
I will not participate in any way 10 6
I want to be (have been) (am) a Bear (NAQCC members only) 9 6

Thanks for your votes in this poll. They will be very helpful in planning the future course of the Bear Hunt. A similar poll is in the works for the NAQCC web site in the near future. I wonder about those who flatly say they will not participate in any way. Perhaps they are just not CW or QRP operators. I hope that's all it is, and nothing strictly against the Bear Hunt itself.

Shocking, shameful, discouraging, disappointing. I know there are more than 6 'heroes' out there. In fact virtually every ham has done something that can be considered heroic to someone. Why all those someones chose not to take the opportunity to honor in a small way that heroism I am at a loss to explain.

#85 - Check all items you like to read about or see in my diary:
Date: 7/15/06-8/14/06 --- Voters: 142 (278)

There were 17 votes for all of the above so I added 17 to each total and proportionally adjusted the totals and percents to reflect that. I think that gives a better idea of the vote spread, or lack of spread. I don't think there is enough of a spread to justify making any drastic changes to the diary format so it will continue pretty much the way it is now. Thanks for your help on deciding the future course of the diary.

At least those who voted in this poll for the most part (77%) don't seem to want to be bullied into moving down the band to 7030, and some (20%) want to aggressively move up and fight the SSB and digital stations to establish a beachhead on 7060. I don't think the results of this poll will have the slightest effect on the outcome of the decision about the frequency, but it's nice to see how the visitors to my site think about it.

Plans Nr %
Operate portable with a club 33 36
Operate portable by myself 24 26
Operate from my regular station at home 11 12
Operate from home with emergency power 8 9
I'll do FD, but not with CW 3 3
Operate mobile 0 0
No plans 12 13

Nice to see those who plan to do FD will be doing so with CW for the most part. I hope to work a bunch of you, although I don't know just how active I'll be. I'll be operating from my regular station at home.

#82 - Are you a member of the NAQCC?
Date: 4/15/06-5/14/06 --- Voters: 61

Y/N Nr %
Yes, and proud to be 43 70
No, I'm not 14 23
What is the NAQCC? 4 7

Hopefully those who aren't members will become members if they are interested in preserving CW on the ham bands.

How Nr %
5 years ago - Same 48 17
5 years ago - More 47 17
5 years ago - Less 8 3
10 years ago - More 46 16
10 years ago - Same 33 12
10 years ago - Less 13 5
20 years ago - More 40 14
20 years ago - Same 28 10
20 years ago - Less 11 4
I was first licensed less than 5 years ago 6 2

Let's analyze this one a bit more.

Total of those using CW:
More - 133 or 49%
Same - 109 or 40%
Less - 32 or 11%
And they say CW is dying? Not among those who visit my web site and vote in the poll, it's not. A whopping 89% of those hams have increased or maintained their use of CW over the years. Nuff said.